Feeding and mixing device.



T. L. VALERIUS.

FEEDING AND MIXING DEVICE. APPLIOIATION FILED MAY 2a, 1908.

Patented Apr. 4, 1911. N

2 SHEETS-83331 1.

T. L. VALERIUS.

FEEDING AND MIXING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 2a, 1908.

988,412. Patented Apr. 4, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE L. VALERIUS, 0F FORT ATKINSON, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO CREAMERYPACKAGE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OFILLINOIS.

FEEDING AND MIXING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 28, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Trmooonn L. VALE- RIUs, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Fort Atkinson, in the county of Jefferson and Stateof Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFeeding and Mixing Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for feeding material in predeterminedquantities, and especially material in a more or less fluid state, andconsisting largely of individual masses or lumps and shreds, such asshredded or partly crushed fruits.

It is one of the objects of the invention to feed'such material withoutfurther crushing or shredding it.

The invention also relates to a means for mixing crushed or shreddedfruit with icecream or similar material.

I shall herein describe my invention as embodied in an ice-cream makingapparatus, without thereby intending to limit the invention to such use.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical central sectionthrough an embodiment of my invention as applied to an ice-creamfreezer, the view being taken upon the plane of dotted line 1 of Fig. 2.Fig. 2 is an and elevation taken from the left-hand side of Fig. 1. Fig.3 is a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective view ofthe agitator.

Theembodiment selected for illustration comprises an ice-cream freezer 1of any suitable character, but preferably of the continuous-operationtype, such, for example, as the machine disclosed in Patent No. 899,928,issued September 29, 1908. The discharge means for the freezer 1 isherein shown as comprising a screw conveyer casing 2 communicating atone end with the freezer, the other end of said casing being closed, andan outlet 3 being provided in one side of the casing near its closedend. In the upper side of the casing 2 and preferably near the inlet endthereof is a flavor-receiving funnel or hopper 4 communicating with theinterior of the conveyer casing. Rotatably supported in the conveyercasing 2 is a conveyer screw 5 adapted to feed the partially frozencream to the outlet 3; The means for feeding crushed fruit or otherflavoring material to the hopper 4 comprises, in this instance, a can orhopper 6 having at its lower end a su porting standard 7 by means ofwhich sai flavor-feeding device is supported upon the conveyer casing 2,preferably through the medium of a clamp 8 (Fig. 3). Operativelyassociated with the hopper 6 is a conveyer device, which is hereupon thehopper 6, and a bail 14 fixed to said shaft within the hopper.

In the lower side of the conveyer casing 9 at a point above the funnel 1is an outlet opening 15. One .end of the conveyor casing 9 .is closed bya wall 16 which provides a bearing for the journal 17 of the conveyerscrew 18. Said screw may be driven from the shaft 12 throughintermeshing gears 19 fixed upon said shaft and said journal. To thedischarge end of the conveyer screw 18 is fixed a disk 20 which servesas one end wall of .the conveyer casing 9, and has fixed thereto a valvemember in the form of a sleeve 21 having an opening 22 therein arrangedto register with the outlet opening 15 in the conveyer casing 9.

In order to permit of regulating the discharge of the material throughthe outlet opening 15, I provide an adjusting means which may consist ofa sleeve or nut 23 mounted upon and having a screw-thread connectionwith the sleeve 21, said sleeve 23 having suitable means by which it maybe manually rotated, as, for example, a knurled surface 24. The sleeve23 may be caused to overlie more or less of the opening 22 in the sleeve21 and thereby regulate the quantity discharged through said opening ineach revolution of the conveyer screw 18.

The mechanism of the flavor feeder may be driven by means of a chain 25passing over a sprocket wheel 26 loose upon the shaft 12, said chainpreferably being driven from a shaft of the freezer 1, in order that therate of operation of the flavor feeder may be properly roportioned tothe rate of operation of the reezer.

27 is a clutch member having a spline conby the conveyer screw 18.

and out of clutch connection with the sprocket wheel 26 by means of aclutch lever 28. r

In operation the cut or shredded pineapple, the partially crushedstrawberries, or other fruit placed in the hopper 6 passes through theopening 11 into the conveyer casing 9 and is moved toward the outlet 1-5Said'outlet is opened once in each revolution of the screw by thecylindrical valve member 21, a quantity of the crushed fruit droppingthrough the outlet opening 15 when the opening 22 in said'valve memberregisters with said outlet opening. The fruit falls into the funnel orhopper 4, whence it flows into the conveyer casing 2 through which astream of partially frozen cream is being moved by the conveyer 5. Inits passage through the conveyer casing 2 the fruit is thoroughly mixedwith the cream, but without further crushing or shredding of said fruit.

It will be understood that the fruit or flavor is a relatively smallpart of the finished' ice-cream, and therefore that the feed from thecontainer 6 must be relatively slow. I have solved the problem ofobtaining such a slow feed without the use of a small outlet opening,which would become clogged with the fruit, .by providing a relativelylarge outlet opening and means for obtaining a periodical dischargethrough said opening.

In certain of the following claims I have used the word flavor toindicate crushed or shredded fruit or any other flavoring material.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with an ice cream freezer having a'continuously-operating cream-discharging conveyer, of means forintermittently adding a quantity of crushed fruit to the stream of creampassing through said conveyer, the latter being adapted to mix thecrushed fruit with the ice cream.

- 2. The combination, with an ice cream freezer having a dischargemeans, of means for placing lumpy flavoring material in said dischargemeans. p

3. The combination, with an ice cream freezer adapted to partiallyfreeze the cream and provided with a continuously-operating screwconveyer for discharging the partially frozen cream, said conveyerhaving a 4:. A flavor-feeding attachment for icecream freezerscomprising acontainer, means for mounting said container in operativerelation to the freezer, bearings on said container, ashaft mounted insaid bearings, an agitator on said shaft in said conta1ner,a conveyercasing below and supported with said container and communicatingtherewith, a conveyer screw in said casing, a driving connection betweensaid shaft and said conveyer screw, a valve' device driven by saidconveyer screw for controlling the discharge from said conveyer, andmeans for driving said shaft.

5. The combination with a continuousdischarge ice-cream freezer having aconveyer casing communicating at one end with said freezer and having anoutlet at its other end, and a receiving funnelor hopper mounted on saidcasing between the ends thereof, of a crushed-fruit feeder comprising acontainer supported by and above said conveyer casing, an agitator insaid 'controlling the discharge through said outlet opening, and meansfor driving said agitator and sald screw conveyer.

(5. The combination, w1th an ice cream freezer, of a receptacle forcontaining lumpy flavoring material, and means for conducting flavoringmaterial from said receptacleto a portion of the freezer containingfrozen cream.

THEODORE L. VALERIUS. YVitnesses IRVING R. HIPPENMEYER, T. W. CHASE.

